


Mr. Potter's Request

by klr_katze



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 05:25:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15308445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klr_katze/pseuds/klr_katze
Summary: Minvera McGonagall receives an urgent owl from one Harry James Potter.





	Mr. Potter's Request

Minerva could not quite believe the event that had transpired over the last couple of days.

She had received a letter, carried by a rather disgruntled looking barn owl, from one Harry James Potter. He had requested, or rather  _ demanded _ , a meeting with her as soon as possible. She could tell by his handwriting that the letter was written rather hastily and there were several large paragraphs that had just been scribbled out.

Of course, Minerva sent an owl back informing Mr. Potter that the school term was about to start and she was really only available that Sunday.

When the barn owl returned, she seemed very put out and Minerva offered a few biscuits and a scratch on the head. The letter that she received was incredibly short and informal and Minerva wondered what could possibly be so urgent for Potter to write so little.

 

_ Sunday will do. I’ll arrive early and meet with you as soon as you’re available. _

 

_ Thanks Headmistress. _

 

Minerva went to sleep confused. The last she knew Potter was doing rather well at Auror training.

  
  


Sunday dawned bright and chilly, a soft fog gently pressing against the castle and grounds.

No sooner than Minerva had gotten dressed and was drinking her morning coffee, than Armando Dippet ran into his portrait, looking rather disheveled.

“Minerva, I hate to interrupt you so early in the morning but the young Potter boy is here and on his way up the stairs! I tried to tell him you weren’t ready for company but he just wouldn’t listen! Hard headed that boy, I swear, if he had been a student in my time-”

Minerva sighed.

“That’s quite enough Armando, please try to catch him before he reaches the door and tell him to come in.”

She watched as Dippet vanished through the portraits and presumably out into the hall.

Minerva furrowed her brow as she took another sip of her coffee. Potter had been a little...unsettled, since the events that had occured three years ago. Everyone assumed that defeating Voldemort would have gone to the boy’s head. Instead, it seemed to have the opposite effect. Potter had all but disappeared for a year. She only received word when Ms. Granger came back to finish her studies. Harry had bought his grandparents old home and was restoring it. His plan was to live there. Mr. Weasley had agreed to help him.

Six months later, she received a request for a reference for Potter and Weasley, for their applications for Auror training. Minerva had written them fairly positive references and the last thing she knew, both boys had been accepted and were well into training by now.

What Minerva couldn’t figure out was why Potter was even coming to Hogwarts at all.

Before she had any more time to ponder, Potter burst through the door and, without any hesitation, proclaimed “I WANT TO BE A PROFESSOR!” with some exuberance.

Caught off guard by this revelation, Minerva blinked at him a few times and slowly sat down her coffee.

She laced her fingers together, her elbows firmly on her desk, and stared at Harry James Potter over her spectacles.

The silence in the room grew thick, and Minerva was honestly shocked that neither the portrait of Severus Snape, nor Albus Dumbledore, had spoken. In fact, they were both quietly watching Mr. Potter, not a sound to be heard between them.

Potter stood in the doorway and opened his mouth to say something, but Minerva beat him to it.

“Mr. Potter. Sit down and have a biscuit.”

He smiled, obviously remembering their conversation a couple of years ago in regards to his outbursts with Dolores Umbridge.

The young man calmly closed the door and sat down, taking a biscuit from the tin she had nudged toward him. She waited until he took a bite of biscuit before she spoke.

“Mr. Potter, last I heard, you were in Auror training. I even wrote you a reference. From the first time we spoke about a possible career, you have wanted to be an Auror. Now, out of the blue, you are telling me you wish to be a teacher. Please, explain yourself.”

Minerva thought she sounded calm enough. One of her unfortunate habits was to sound angry when confused. Confused. Confounded. Bewildered. Shocked. All of these words aptly described her current predicament. Though, Minerva remembered, he had been teaching a group of students in secret during his fifth year…

“Headmistress, to be honest with you, I’ve seen enough.”

Minerva looked at the boy, really looked at him. He had experienced so much since she, Dumbledore, and Hagrid had left him on that doorstep some eighteen, nineteen years ago. So much loss. So much death. He had fought for so much and against so much, to be only twenty years old. Potter, seemingly losing his nerve, began to ramble.

“I don’t have a lot of experience, I know that. Really, I have almost no experience, apart from a technically illegal club where I taught some of my friends the basics hoping that they wouldn’t be completely helpless if something happened and the more I thought about it the more I found I was really fond of teaching and being an Auror would basically mean just doing more of what I’ve already been doing and to be perfectly honest with you Professor I, OH I’M SORRY,  _ Headmistress _ , I just think teaching is the best thing for me as I’ve really already had a little too much adventure and not that I’m ready to be bored to tears or settle down for the rest of my life I think I’m done being in the spotlight or having my name in the paper it’s just not something that I’ve ever really wanted and I  _ loved _ learning under Lupin and given the chance I imagine I tried to take a page out of his book with teaching and I was just sitting in Auror training as they were going over the proper time to use binding charms and I just had enough and walked out I couldn’t do it anymore and really all of this just sums up that  I just really want to teach.”

He said all of this in one great huff and Minerva imagined he was probably out of breath.

She thought for a moment.

“Have another biscuit, Potter.”

He immediately took another biscuit and Minerva held back a smile. Harry Potter, the professor.

The young man was obviously nervous about all this, but the more Minerva thought, the more it really did seem to make sense. It would be a much quieter life. A life less spent on the front page and the topic of whispers and gossip. He would be helping students, instead of the whole of the wizarding world. That would have to be some sort of relief. And he did seem fairly passionate about the idea. Potter had obviously given this a lot of thought.

She nodded to herself. She had made up her mind. It would be good for all of them, surely.

“Mr. Potter, I will not hand you a teaching position. You will have to earn it. I will require you to complete your last year of schooling,  _ however _ ,” she added quickly, seeing that he was about to interrupt, “I will allow you to begin shadowing our interim Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor during that time. You will be required to assist Professor Zabini until we are both satisfied that you can handle the classes yourselves. When that time comes, the three of us will have a meeting, and, as long as everything is in order, you will take over the position. It should take no more than a year or two, given your particular brand of expertise.”

Potter looked confused.

“Zabini?  _ Blaise  _ Zabini?”

“Of course, Potter. His original request was Potions Master, but, as Horace had already agreed to work a couple of more years before his final retirement, I asked Mr. Zabini to take over the Defense Against the Dark Arts position until we could find a suitable candidate. I expect you to do well. You will find that we will make acceptable accommodations for your living arrangements. It doesn’t seem altogether appropriate to room you with a group of seventeen year olds that will fawn over THE Harry Potter. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind sharing apartments with Professor Longbottom?”

“Neville? Of course I don’t mind.”   
“Good. I’ll let Neville know. Mr. Potter, term starts a week and a half from today. I expect you to be here and ready to learn. You have a busy schedule ahead of you.”

Harry smiled and Minerva felt taken aback by how open and genuinely happy it was.

“You are dismissed Mr. Potter. I’ll have an owl send you your school list shortly.”

“Thank you Headmistress!”

And, before Minerva could stop him, he hurried around the desk and gave her a quick hug.

“I won’t let you down!”, he shouted over his shoulder as he headed briskly out the door.

Perhaps, thought Minerva, this was Harry Potter’s chance. His chance at a more normal life. A calmer life. A life away from headlines and prophecies.

As she filled her cup again, she sat down to sort through her morning mail. Feeling eyes on her, she glanced up and met  the eyes of the portrait of Severus Snape and smirked.

What the man would think to see Mr. Potter now.


End file.
